Day: June 24, 2012

Shortly before President Obama addressed a gathering of Latino officials — whose support he is actively seeking — guests at the Friday conference were told to hurry up and finish lunch. The reason? The president’s security wanted to make sure all sharp-edged utensils were cleared away.

The surprise announcement came from Raquel Regalado, a board member for the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.

“It’s very important that you use your utensils as soon as possible,” she told the Florida crowd.

Chuckling through her own warning, Regalado noted they’d be having “another speaker” — the president — and “there is some Secret Service involved.”

“So there’s a reason why there’s no knives at your table, and the forks will be collected,” she said. “And I’m not joking.”

The article later mentions that this is not unusual: the Secret Service regularly collects (1) potential weapons when a president speaks at a gathering. Making the announcement was unusual, however. But, if 9/11 could be pulled off by guys armed with box-cutters, I guess a madman with a sporkcould be a real threat. Still… weird.